Look for the "Play It Safe" Seal at your site

Thanks for the tip.
Good to know that the site i regularly play at isn't on the list :S

Have you ever had any issues with your site? Or do you know anyone who has had an issue that has gone on unresolved because they felt they didn't have anyone to turn to?

So Riverbelle Poker, Trident Poker and 3 Piggs Poker (wtf!) are "approved" sites, but pokerstars, Full Tilt and party poker aren't? I note sites have got to pay a "fee" to be approved. What a load of bull.

Here's some more information about eCOGRA:

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]What is eCOGRA?
eCOGRA is the independent standards authority for the online gaming industry. A non-profit organization, eCOGRA helps players identify online casino and poker sites that are safe, fair and responsible.

What does the eCOGRA Seal mean?
The Play It Safe Seal is awarded to operators that fully comply with eCOGRA's strict standards for player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator conduct. Sites and their player policies are checked and rechecked on an ongoing basis to ensure their compliance with these standards, as well as your safety online. The Seal has become a homepage symbol of documented, objective, fair play.

eCOGRA certified sites are regulated and monitored to ensure:

• Fair gaming practices
• Timely and efficient payouts
• Fast dispute resolution

How does it affect players?
eCOGRA's primary mission is to make online gaming safer for players everywhere. Always look for the Play It Safe Seal before gambling online. If a site does not carry the Seal, you might be at risk. Know that if you should ever have a problem on an eCOGRA sealed site, eCOGRA will try to help you resolve your dispute as a Fair Gaming Advocate.

Where can I get more information?
For more information, please go to www.ecogra.org/

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robwhufc said:

So Riverbelle Poker, Trident Poker and 3 Piggs Poker (wtf!) are "approved" sites, but Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Party Poker aren't? I note sites have got to pay a "fee" to be approved. What a load of bull.

Click to expand...

*ding ding ding*
Someone's got it!

on a side note, if anyone would like a "Fish Seal of Approval" icon to post on their website, blog, pokersite, or even a bumpersticker, I can provide this service to you as long as you adhere to my strict standards.

STANDARDS
1. Send $50 to me.
2. That is all.

Actually guys you're wrong, people don't pay a cent to be an approved eCOGRA site, it's done purely on merit.

Au contraire

9.Once approved by eCOGRA's independent directors, a Members Agreement is entered into between eCOGRA and the software supplier;
10.The software supplier becomes liable for eCOGRA fees.

From an eCOGRA member of staff:

"I had a look at the recent posts and interesting to see that there's a perception that sites need to pay a fee to be approved, however I'm not sure where the person got this idea. We don't receive anything from the sites, so whether we approve 1 or 100 sites it makes no difference to us from a financial perspective.

We're genuinely in place for the players' protection."

Nick said:

"I had a look at the recent posts and interesting to see that there's a perception that sites need to pay a fee to be approved, however I'm not sure where the person got this idea.

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From THEIR website, where did they think I did?

Item number 10 on their Membership Process. Maybe i'm just a cynic like Fish, but as far as i'm aware, Poker players have no legal recourse to regain money that is owed to them by poker sites. If a new player had concerns about this and asked me for advice re a site to play on, I would advise they stick to a) a large established site like Pokerstars or Full Tilt, b) a limited company - Party Poker or c) a site backed by an established and respected bookmaker - Ladrokes, william hill, Victor Chandler. I wouldn't recommend that they deposit to 3 Piggs Poker, regardless of whether they have received accreditation from eCOGRA. OK they can offer mediation and assistance, but they offer no protection to money, nor do they (please correct me if i'm wrong) investigate the financial stability of these sites.

Again, if i'm wrong then i'll apologise, but in my eyes and until i'm convinced otherwise, the eCOGRA seal of approval carries as much weight as the Fish seal of approval.

(N.B most of the sites shown as accredited are prima sites - can we read anything into this?).

Nick said:

From Andrew @ eCOGRA:

We're funded by our members which are software providers

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So there's the explanation of why 5 of the 8 listed sites run on the Prima Network. So a poker site, run on Prima software, verifies its strength by getting accredited by eCOGRA, funded by, errr, Prima. It gets worse and worse!

Sorry Nick, if you're in contact with Andrew again, can you ask him

a) why 888.com and Betandwin aren't shown on the list of approved sites?
b) why the big boys - Pokerstars, Party Poker etc aren't accredited?
and c) whether any sites have failed to get eCOGRA's approval (if not, why not, if yes, why aren't they shown on site?).

Nick sir, no offence but it appears you've been taken in by a giant load of horse crap.

I haven't even looked at the site, I just need to look at the OP to see that it's nonsense.

GamingStrategy said:

eCOGRA is a non-profit, self-regulatory body for the online gaming industry. If you come across cash out issues or any other problems you can turn to them for help.

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If you come across cashout issues you invariably have no recourse. There's nothing you can legally do if a poker site decides to just keep your money (mainly to do with the fact that (a) playing online poker is technically illegal in many places, and (b) most poker sites are based in obscure, unregualted places), and there's nothing more that this utterly meaningless 'organisation' can do either.

So this is either (a) an incredibly crap attempt at self-promotion, or (b) some kind of build-up to a scam. Probably (a).

Maybe that topp44 guy was onto something with his Prima bashing!

This disclaimer is at the bottom of their online "certifications":

Accredited sites are subject to regular monitoring of their operation. Whilst eCOGRA makes it's best endeavours, no representation or warranty can be given that the operation of any games at any given site is at all times in accordance with the eCOGRA requirements. Therefore eCOGRA cannot assume responsibility for consequences resulting from the use of any Internet gaming site bearing the eCOGRA seal. eCOGRA is not liable to any person or group of persons, firm, company or entity for losses of any description that a user of an accredited site may suffer.

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This just decertifies the "certification". What good is it? Even they themselves admit they can't do much.

eCOGRA is an oragnization that is advocates for players. It has and does successfully advocate for the online player and have had funds returned to players when they were wrongly withheld on eCOGRA certified sites. The organization has been around for three years and works extensively to provide a free dispute resolution service for online gamers.

Entire gaming jurisdictions approve of eCOGRA's standards and some have waived regulation requirements for online gaming venues that are eCOGRA certified. That means that these standards meet and even exceed government regulations in numerous jurisdictions.

Card rooms and casinos that are certified undergo extensive testing by independent auditing companies. The seal is a symbol of ongoing site monitoring and indicates that that site is dedicated to fair gaming, player protection and responsible operator conduct.

i play a lot of sites

and none are listed as approved, why is party poker, pokerstars, paradise poker, cdpoker, sbg and others not approved some are listed on the london stock exchange and i;ve never had a problem cashing out of any of them.